CONIFER, Colo. (KDVR) — A Park County man is out of the hospital and recovering after he was shot in the arm during a U.S. 285 road rage incident Tuesday afternoon. 

It happened just a few miles outside of Conifer, where Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies briefly closed portions of U.S. 285 to search for evidence.

The victim of the shooting, who does not want to be identified, spoke exclusively with FOX31 on Wednesday. He said it all started after another driver seemingly took offense to him going the speed limit in the left lane.

“The individual came flying around me, squeezed between my car and the car in front of me, and brake-checked me to the point where I had to slam the brakes on pretty hard,” he said. “I should have known better, should have let it be at that point, but I reacted.”

He said he gave the other driver the middle finger, passed him and cut him off. 

“He came back around me on the passenger side, and that’s when the firearm came out,” he said. “I saw the gun, saw the smoke from it going off. That’s kind of when time slows down, and you catch the frame-by-frame moment, if you will. I saw the laser on top of the gun, and then immediately felt like someone punched me in the arm with a little bit of bee sting behind it.”

He said the driver fired a single shot through his open passenger window and said the bullet went through his left bicep and out his driver’s side window. He said he briefly tried to follow the suspect while on the phone with 911 dispatchers before pulling over in Conifer for medical attention.

“I continued to look down to my left and monitor the amount of blood coming out, and my first thought was: I need a tourniquet,” he said.

He was taken to a hospital in Denver before being released and is expected to make a full recovery.

US 285 shooting suspect still at large

The suspect is described as a white man in his 30s with dark hair and a goatee. That suspect was reportedly driving a silver 4-door Acura sedan with tinted windows. The victim said the car also may have had a white bumper. 

“I’m worried for my community members, their families, their children,” the victim said. “I’m asking for everyone to keep their eyes and ears open.”

He said it’s also a good lesson not to overreact on the road and not to respond to aggressive drivers.

“Life’s more important than a brake check or getting the final middle finger at somebody,” he said. “Apparently, this individual has no remorse for human life.”